1864 Post Office Directory

The Post Office Directory of 1864 says:

EVERSHOLT is a parish, in the hundred of Manshead, union of Woburn, county court district of Ampthill, rural deanery of Fleete, archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Ely, situated about 2 miles from Woburn, on the borders of the park: this is a very respectable parish, consisting of several clusters of houses, called ‘Ends.’ The church of St. John the Baptist is a neat structure in the Gothic and Early English styles, with nave, chancel, aisles, and square tower, containing 6 bells; it is now (1863) undergoing a complete restoration, under G. G. Scott, Esq., at a cost of about £3,000: there are monuments to the Hon. Frances Henley Ongley, eldest daughter of the Right Hon. Samuel Henley, first Baron Ongley; Mrs. Elizabeth Hyde, sister of the Bishop of St. Davids; and Mrs. Sarah Hodgkinson. The register dates from 1628. The living is a rectory, annual value £600, with residence, in the patronage of the Duke of Bedford; the Rev. Wm. S. Baker, M.A., of Clare College, Cambridge, is the rector. There is a charity estate administered by trustees, part of the proceeds of which are applied to the church, part to the poor, and part to the town charges; and in consequence of the above, there are no church rates in the parish. Here is a National school for children of both sexes, and an Infant school. Some centuries back, Gilbert, of Eversholt, was rector of this parish; he was employed in the restoration of St. Alban’s Abbey, and was an architect of some considerable eminence. The Duke of Bedford is lord of the manor and chief landowner. The population in 1861 was 885; the area is 2,117 acres.